Spinning-machine



(No Model.)

J. S. MACPARLANE.

SPINNING MACHINE.

Patented Dec. 22, 1896.-

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UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES S. HAOFARLANE, OF MANSFIELD, CONNECTICUT.

SPINNING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,676, dated December 22, 1896.

Application filed October 29, 1895. Serial No. 567,271. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES S. MACFARLANE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mansfield, in the county of Tolland and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spinning- Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters indicate like parts.

My invention relates more particularly to the art of spinning fibers and to the class of machines for that purpose known as downspinners and the objects of the invention are to reduce the waste, to improve the product as to quality, and to enable a greater amount 'of work to be turned ofi by comparatively unskilled labor as compared with the work of prior machines.

To this end my invention consists in the details of the several parts, and the combination of the parts making up the draft'and feed devices, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagram view, in front elevation, of such parts of the old down-spinning frame as relate to my invention. Fig. 2 is a diagram view, in vertical cross-section, through the driving-roll and top roll of the old device, illustrating the course of the ends. Fig. 3 is a diagram view, in front elevation, of those parts of the clownspinning frame which relate to my invention and showing the feature of improvement. Fig. 4. is a detail view in cross-section through the rolls, illustrating the path of the ends in passing between the rolls in my improved device. Fig. 5 is a diagram view, on enlarged scale, illustrating one of the faults of the old method. Fig. 6 is a detail top view showing the brackets and my improved draft-roll mounted between them.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes a spinning-spindle, which may be of any desired form and construction, mounted on a frame and driven by suitable means; 19, a bobbin mounted on the spindle; a, the ringrails; c, the rings which support a traveler, these several parts being of ordinary form and construction.

On the frame of the down-spinner and above the level of the top of the spinning-spindles is supported a driving-shaft cl, driven by suitable means and divided along its length into a series of driving-rolls (1', each roll comprising two end parts with a recessed center (1 On brackets e, fixed to the frame of the machine, top rolls f are supported in open sockets, whichallow the roll to be dropped into place from above, these .top rolls resting upon the surface of the driving-rolls d, the latter providing the sole means of rotating the top rolls.

On a frame g pins g, arranged in a substantially horizontal position, support bobbins h, from which the filament of silk or other material is unwound, the end, as it is called, passing from each of the bobbins directly downward through the eye of a stop device 1. and then through a narrower eye j, the several ends (there are four shown in the drawings, but they may be of any desired number) being brought together through the loop which forms the eye j, and then passing downward in the old form of apparatus back of the top roll f, wrapping around it, and then passing between the top roll and the drivingroll in the recessed space d but running on this recessed surface, from which it is delivered directly downward to the bobbin on the spinning-spindle.

In this form of spinning-machine the downward pull or draft upon the ends depends upon the traveler and notupon any pull from the top rollfor driving-roll d, and the amount of this draft depends upon the weight of the traveler, varying with the weight or with its condition as to wear. It is usual to build a down-spinning frame with about one hundred (100) spinning-spindles, all being driven from one central source of power by bands in the well-known manner, and it is seldom that the travelers are all of the same weight or of the same condition as to wear, so that thread of different degrees of tension will be spun on the same frame. This construction of the spinning-frame with parts which cause the draft on the thread to be dependent on the traveler is the cause of unevenness and irregularity in the tension, which produces thread or twist or other spun filaments uneven as to tension in different parts of its length and of unequal strength.

In the old form of machine the twist runs back to a point on the underneath part of the top roll f, (denoted by 1,) and as the several ends which are wrapped about the top roll f come together at this point one is apt to twist olf, break, and leave a less number of ends to be twisted together, the end which has been cut winding about one of the rolls and making waste. The thread or twist which has been spun with the lesser number of threads at one point is of course weak in that part as compared with the rest.

Another fault of the old construction is that when one of the ends breaks, as it sometimes does, the machine stops, but it leaves the twisted ends resting against the surface of the recess of the driving-roll, as at 2, and the friction wears the thread thin at this point before the work-tender gets around to correct the fault an d pick up and make fast the broken end.

\Vhen a filament or length of thread passes onto and around a rotating pulley or roll, wrapping completely. about it in its course, it comes off at a point in the same plane that it enters, and owing to this the thread or filament as it runs onto the roll is apt to overlie that portion which is wrapped about the roll, and as the latter pulls off the succeeding part overrides and catches, interfering with the twist and with the tension. A number of ends'are brought together and run onto the top roll f in independent lengths, the several ends not being twisted together until after the ends have passed once around the top roll. One of the ends frequently catches, as illustrated in the diagram view in Fig. 5 of the drawings, and riding up forms a slack place and produces what is known as ridey silk, when that is the material whichis being spun upon the machine. Owing to these several faults the spinning-frame requires the constant and close attention of a skilled operative in order to obtain a finished product, as a twist, sewing-silk, or similar spun thread, which shall be at all usable and merchantable.

In order to obviate the above difficulties, I make use of a draft-roll k, which is supported on the top roll in brackets Z, provided withthe pivot-sockets Z, that are opened vertically and simply hold the roll against movement in a horizontal plane. The brackets can be secured, as by means of screws, directly to a fixed part of the spinning-frame without interfering with any of the other parts and the rolls mounted as illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

One advantage of making the roll-socket Z open is that when the draft-roll k is removed the top roll f can be lifted out of its socket, as in the old construction.

In'the down-spinner provided with my improvement the ends pass down free from the draft roll, which preferably has its. axis slightly out of a vertical plane, so that its periphery overhangs that of the top roll, and this permits the ends 42 to pass down underneath the top roll, partly around. it and between it and the draft-roll, back of the draftroll, around it to the front, and then directly downward to the bobbin on the spinningspindle, passing free of the draft-roll on the back and free of the top roll on the front. lVith this construction of the parts the several ends wrapped partly around the top roll, as described, are caught between the top roll and the draft-roll and by this means drawn off from the supply-bobbins. The twisting effect of the spinning-spindle runs out at a point 3 on the surface of the draft-roll just back of the tangent point, where the twisted thread 12- leaves the draft-roll, and this is in a convenient position,wh ere the operative can always notice it. It is'desirable that the same amount of tension, as alreadyexplained, shall be put upon the ends andthat the twist shall extend back to the same point and shall be uniform to that point. A difference in the tension of the bandwhich drives the spinning-spindle will cause a variation in the rate of speed, which will change the point where the twist runs out, but by having this point 3 where the twist runs out in plain view the operative can note by its position whether the bands require adjustment as to tension, and by keeping the tension uniform along the whole frame a uniform quality of twisted thread can be produced.

By producing the draft upon the ends by means of the special roll uniformity in draft is secured and a greater uniformity of strength in the spun fiber obtained. This forms a material advantage by reason of the improvement.

hen my within-described invention is embodied in the spinning-frame and one of the ends breaks the portion at of the twisted thread does not come in contact with the surface either of the top roll or of the drivingroll, and for that purpose is not worn thin at any part, as is the case in the old machine.

'A further object of my invention is that there is no overriding of the ends, as they do not wrap completely about either the top roll or the draft-roll, and there is no chance for catching, as in the old form. The thread delivers from the draft-roll at a tangent to the surface directly downward and there is no chance for the ends to overrun, becausethe twist is imparted at a point 8, beyond which the ends lie flat down upon the surface of the roll all under an even pull or tension with no chance for a loop to form by overriding,as is the case with the old method of delivery where the draft depends upon the pullupon' the thread and the lapping causes a catching of the ends, as already explained.

By the use of my invention skilled labor is not required, and by actual test it has been found that one operative can do more than twice the amount of work in a given time, and that when the operative is comparatively unskilled.

The draft-roll is provided at one end with a stop shoulder 19, and this is preferably formed by cutting an angular groove 1) in the surface of the roll near the end, the groove tapering on one side and forming an abrupt shoulder at the other side, the function of this shoulder being to prevent the ends from running ofi the roll when the spinning-machine stops by the breakdown of one of the ends or for any other reason. If the stopshoulder were not present, the ends would run oif the end of the draft-roll, and twisting about the pivot and the roll would run to waste. This waste of yarn from this cause and the tangling of the ends with the running parts of the machine is completely obviated by the use of the stop-shoulder on the draft-roll.

In the old form of spinning-machine and on the ordinary work, as in making silk machine-twist, a fixed percentage of nearly six per cent. (6%) of waste is allowed to the throwster as between the weight of raw silk furnished to him and the weight of the finished spun product.

By the use of my within-described improvement this amount of waste is reduced by over two-thirds, and in fact there is practically so little waste that that element of loss in throwing silk is almost completely obviated.

It is obvious that my invention is not limited to the particular construction of spinning-frame as herein described, nor to the particular relative location of the parts, except that the draft-roll must be superimposed on and be run by the motion of the top roll.

The exact arrangement of the ends as they pass onto the top roll and about the draftroll is not essential, although I have found the best results to be produced with the arrangement shown. The exact construction of the stop-shoulder is not material so long as the roll is provided with an obstacle that shall prevent the ends from running off the roll by a lateral movement along the surface, but in this regard the special manner of producing the stop-shoulder by cutting the groove as described is preferred, as it enables the whole bearing-surface from end to end of the draft-roll to rest upon the top roll and enables the roll to be easily used in reverse position in case the direction of the feed of the ends between and about the rolls should be changed.

I claim as my invention 1. In a spinning-machine, in combination with a driving-roll, atop roll mounted on and 5 5 moved by the driving-roll, and a draft-roll mounted on and in peripheral contact with the top roll, all substantially as described.

2. In a down-spinning frame, in combination with the driving-roll, a top roll mounted on the driving-roll, and a draft-roll loosely mounted above and in peripheral contact with the top roll and overhanging the periphery of the top roll whereby the thread may pass around below the toproll between it and the draft-roll, and down past the top roll and out of contact therewith, all substantially as described.

In a down-spinning frame in combination, a driving-roll, a top roll mounted above the driving-roll, a draft-roll loosely mounted above and in peripheral contact with the top roll and having a stop-shoulder near the end of the roll, all substantially as described.

4. In a down-spinning machine, in combination, a driving-roll, a top roll supported on and driven by the driving-roll, a draft-roll loosely mounted in bearings inbrackets and in peripheral contact with the top roll, and the brackets having the vertically open sockets for the draft-roll pivots, all substantially as described.

5. In a clown-spinning frame, in combination with the driving-roll, the top rolls mounted on and driven by the driving-roll, the draft-roll having an angular groove near one end forming a stop-shoulder and mounted in bearings above and in peripheral contact with the top roll, and with the periphery of the draft-roll overhanging and projecting beyond the periphery of the rolls below, all substantially as described.

6. In a down-spinning frame, in combination, a pair of rolls mounted one upon the other, means for driving the rolls and guide devices whereby a thread may pass downward below the lower roll, around and between the two rolls, back of the upper roll, and downward free from the lower roll in its path to the bobbin on the spinning-spindle, 100 all substantially as described.

JAMES s. MAOFARLANE.

lVitnesses EUNICE B; BUCHANAN, A. W. BUCHANAN. 

